Emergency Response Team

Have you seen scenes of major train and plane accidents in India on TV. I have for many years and have come to the firm conclusion that no one who matters have seen these gory scenes on TV. Here is why.... the most riveting aspect of these scenes is a few local carrying mangled bodies to no where and a few local state police poking around the debris with lathis. In ultra urban areas like Mumbai, the scene is no different. My first memories of such a scene on coloured television was the clash of two planes over haryana on the wee hours of a foggy winter day. And my lasting memory of the scene of the accident was haryana policemen covered in blankets probing the debris with lathis. These memories were refreshed the other day when I watched the post blast scene in Mumbai on TV. Nothing much seems to have changed.

Haven't we realised in the 60 years of independence that police is not there for accident and emergency response, haven't we realised that there is no point in calling the police to the accident scene they do not know and are not expected to know the abc of emergency response, haven't we realised that security forces are not not gods or not least paramedics..... Clearly we have not. The result is all of us call up a hospital and the police in case of a major accident, terrorost attack, flood, or at best the fire brigade.

Since independence, we have riased so many special forces from teh BSF to the CISF that most people in the Home Ministry has lost count. We have, however, failed to raise on force that would have saved the lives of millions in the last 60 years... India does not have a centralised force of paramedics to response to emergency and trauma... We have spent trillions of dollars on national security but when that security is breached and ordinary citizens fall victim, we have no one to respond.

Dont you think we should have a national emergency response team with paramedics as members. This should be like any of the central security forces the only difference being that they are not fighters but saviours of lives, their jobs? to be the first on the spot, deliver on spot treatment and take them to the nearest hospital... end of work. What would they need? Ambulances, are medical emergency equipement, a few helicopters for large cities, training in paramedicine, driving skills. Where would they be based? In all district headquarters to begin with and their performance would be based on their response time... They would be commondos in a different sense. Where will the money come from? 50 per cent central government and 50 per cent corporates. We have enough money for a good cause, in the last 60 years we have created enough wealth, it is time that we use it for some good causes. This one is on top of my mind. At least, aesthetically, I do not have to see dead bodies being dragged by localvillagers and debris being poked by Police lathis....
What do you think?

When Did you Last...?

When did you last look at a traffic light beggar in the face? when did you last travelled without with the windows of the car open? when you last buy a shirt from a street vendor? when did you last visit a subzi mandi? when did you last bought your own booze from the booze shop? when did you last visit a temple without any result in mind? when did you last cuddled a baby? when did you last petted a dog or a cat? when did you last have a one-to-one with your office boy? when did you last have a vada pao on the streets? when did you walked the streets without a definite purpose and destination? when did you last write a non-official letter? when did you last say "you are great" to your parents? when did you last asked your partner what she wants? when did you last ask you help at home "how were the kids doing are they still n school"? When did you last help your child with the homeowork or a show and tell? when did you last looked at a pretty woman and told her how pretty she was? when did you last smell a rose? when did you last make a friend? when did you last laughed out aloud?

The gas balloon goes up and up till the gas lasts, after that it comes down directionless, shrunken and rather sad looking and completely useless....

Cheers

Sorry, No Sarees, Please!

Shashi Tharoor lamented the demise of the ubiquitous saree from the cupboards of Indian women in a national daily last Sunday. And, appealed earnestly to Indian women to not let this ancient mark of our civilization die a quick death. One of the main reasons as one of his respondendents mentioned against saree was "try and catch a bus in a saree" - indicating the non-functional side of the attire and hinting that with women increasingly getting out of homes and into workplaces with all the attendant problems, sarees are best left to the moths in cupboards.
Another man, perhaps not as global as Tharoor, but certainly representing the best of Indian tradition in laughter, Raju Srivastava, has a more serious lament. In a recent episode of "The Great Indian Laughter CHallenge", Raju had this mock conversation between the jeans and the top.
Jeans: I seem to be going down and down and further away from you my friend
Top: Yes, mah dahling! I too seem to be moving up and up and away from you. It seems we shall only get further and further away from each other and never be able to meet in this life.

I am not here to moralise about what women should wear or not wear. Frankly I believe one should wear what one is comfortable in and what one can carry off confidently. Of course, within the larger societial norms in mind. In fact, it is a remarkable sign of our social progress that most urban women [I do not mean just the 8 top cities, but even smaller towns] are condifently wearing cothes which not only their mothers but even their elder sisters would have cringed at. Critics would call this a dubious sign of progress but they would forget that such small changes are harbingers of larger changes in society. Remember those days when you went out and bought cigerattes for your girlfriend who was a smoker but did not want to go to shops to buy the stuff and people who knew you slightly wondering why you - a non-smoker- were buying cigarettes? Gone are those days now, if you were to attend a large confenrence today on any of the new economy sectors, you would find that women lead the pack of smokers during breaks... and what more in most cities you can see women smoking in restaurants, pubs and other places. if that is not progress, I wonder what it...
But of course, there is always a twist to my tales.... and in case of women's smoking habits and sartorial tastes, I have two stories to narrate from rural India which so far as women empowerment goes, has been the trend setter since times immemorial.
The first story was told to me by my sociology teacher Dr Particia Oberoi an Australian national who had moved to India at a very young age marrying Prof Oberoi. When Pat moved to India in the early 60s folks back home warned her that she would not get any skirts in India and she should pack as many of those as possible. On reaching India on her first visit to rural Rajasthan she found much to her shock and pleasure, that women in those parts of India wore only skirts and very pretty ones at that....
The second story is from small town Bihar where I spent my childhood. My friend, all of 11 years used to frequently buy bidis and we knew he was not a smoker. He used to buy it for his own and our neighbourhood chachi [who was completely illiterate but married to to the Principal of the local college and the President of the District Congress Committee, th emuch educated, modern and revered Prof Singh...
Didn't I tell you earlier more things change more they remain the same

Bad Animals and Worse Humans

Sunderbans [the largest mangrove forest in the world: [12 March 2007] Home to the Royal Bengal Tiger and the Ferocious Crocodile
A Conversation Between A Tiger and a Crocodile:
Tiger How Many today?
Croc: Bad day mate only two
T: At this rate we shall never be able to cull them and free our habitat
C: How many did you cull today?
T: maimed and dead combine 15
C: That's a good day's work
T: Yeah I guess only you and I can do it here, others are all useless, you see they are vegetarians and generally do not kill or destroy something they do not eat.
C: Yeah that fat ass elephant refused to kill any humans saying that that was not his job and in any case he had not taste for human meat
T: Mate that is why we will never be able to score over humans, we are too logical
C: But look at the speed with which the buggers are breeding and encroaching on our property and getting aggressive and killing us
T: Mate it is a losing battle
C: Seems like only option for us is to behave like our friends the dogs and go and settle down in the cities
T: They are really remarkable, look how they have completely changed their habitat, they were once wild animals hunting in packs, now they either adorn and guard rich people's house or have become smart urban foragers
C:Mate I can't beg and eat left overs out of plastic bags
T: Me too, I guess we will have to control our bredding and finally disappear in order to make more and more room for the humans

Bangalore [India's silicon valley and home to large number of ownerles dogs] 12 March 2007
A Conversation between two dogs:
Senior dog to start up dog: Why the hell did you have to kill that child? Dont you know they are harmless?
Guilty Start up Dog: Boss, I said sorry so many times... to so many people
Senior Dog: Sorry does not help anymore my boy, look at what you have brought down on the entire community. you have given us a very bad name and invited the wrath of the most ferocious and intellectually superior animal in this planet.
Guilty Start Up dog: But even the baby's father said on TV that it was not my fault it, I am after all a dog he said and would get attracted to offals thrown out of illegal meat shops
Senior Dog: My boy, you are too young to know that rationality is the first victim when human bengs are hit by a situation, they are not like us... Now run and try to save your life as I would mine...
New Delhi [capital of India and home to many ex-celebrities looking for a cause to support] 12 March
Monologues of a Celebrity:
They have killed them like butchers, 1,500 of them, the local authorities are acting like Hitler and this will only acentuate the menace dogs will grow more feral and bite more people the best way is to make them incapable of breeding en masse, and kill the sick ones...
Mumbai 13 March 2007 [Richest city of India and home to a large number of stray animals and humans and also lovers of such strays]
Observations of an Idiot
Worli: No stray dogs and no mosquitoes.... Clean roads, proper garbage disposal systems, automatic control on breeding of strays.... Some cats in and around societies...
Andheri east: dirty roads, garbage on roads, overcrowding, full of stray dogs, stray people and mosquitoes... right envoronment for breeding... more dogs more sympathies... more food and more dogs....
Conclusion: Controlling dogs is really in human hands
Thoughts of an Idiot
Of course protecting habitats of tiger and croc are also in human hands, all they need to do is to control breed[ing] and greed...
Why can not we achieve both especially since both are apparently in our hands?